Random Bullets of Vacation Moments

• We ate lunch on Wednesday at HuHot Mongolian Barbecue. The idea is that they set out a bunch of raw ingredients--meat, noodles, veggies, and lots of different sauces--and you put them together. Then they cook them while you wait. It's a cool idea, but I'd have to go back quite a few times before I got the hang of what went well together. My first plate was pretty good, but my second one lacked oomph.
  
  What struck me was what a rotten job these chefs had. Basically, they walk around in circles around this big, round grill. Dump out some food, separate out the meat to make sure it gets cooked, stir and chop, scrape it onto a plate, clean that section of the grill, and repeat. And repeat. And repeat. At probably 400 degrees. While everyone is watching. I had some crappy jobs when I was younger--washing dishes can be as hot as anything--but at least we were hidden in the back, where we could joke and swear and make fun of the customers. These guys just walk around and around while everyone's watching.
  
  
• It was interesting to be without the Little Joggers for a while. Every decision was much easier. Fewer opinions to get, and fewer logistics to plan. And much, much quieter. Mrs. Jogger said something about practicing for Empty Nesting. I thought about it, and realized that with the littlest Little Jogger in Kindergarten, it's about 12 years until he leaves the nest. Since the first Little Jogger is just 12 years old, we're about halfway through our parenting years. There's a sobering thought.
  
  Even more sobering is the realization that it's only six years before the girls graduate from high school, and presumably leave the house. The six years between when I was 12 and when I was 18 were an eternity. I have a feeling that the next six years will go by in a blink.
  
  
• The wall clock in our hotel room hadn't been reset for Daylight Savings, so I took it down and reset it. On the wall, behind the clock, was a sign that said something like "Thank you for purchasing this lovely work of art. A fee of $75 will be added to your bill. If you don't wish to purchase this item, please leave it on the bed, and we will rehang it for you." I managed to rehang it myself, but then I checked, and yes, all the other decorations, if they weren't bolted to the wall, had similar notes. It's a sad commentary on our society to think that such a note is necessary. Do people really steal artwork from hotels often enough that hotels simply expect it? I don't know, maybe these notes are industry standard, and I just never knew it, because I never before took anything off the walls.
  
  
• We ate too much, and spent too much money, but it was worth it.